5 Simple Games for Teaching Number Recognition


These number recognition games are simple, don't require any fancy materials, and my preschoolers love to play them:



1. Grab two dice and a piece of paper with the numbers two through twelve written on it. Roll the dice, count all the dots, and circle each number until you've rolled them all.


2. The only things you need for this game are two players, paper, and a pencil, so it's great when you're waiting somewhere. It's like the rock paper scissors game except we say, "Rock, paper, number!" and each player holds up as many fingers as they want. Then we count all the fingers and point to the correct number written on the sheet of paper. (You could also practice writing the number together.)


2. Put simple paper cutouts numbered one through six on the floor. (I cut them into different shapes from different colored paper so we could review shapes and colors at the same time. Plus it's easier to give clues if they're not sure of a number.) To play the game, the child rolls a die, counts the dots, and stands on the corresponding number.


4. This is the same idea as the Valentine math except we've also used ladybug shapes and chocolate chips. My kids would play this fifteen times a day if I'd let them because of the chocolate. Blueberries would work too, if you want a healthier option.


5. Labeling. I write numbers on office stickers and we label things around the house. For example, we put "12" on the dozen eggs in the refrigerator, "2" on a pair of shoes, etc.


You might like these other counting and number recognition activities too:








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20 comments:

  1. I love these ideas! I've been looking for simple ways to review numbers with my almost-three-year-old and his little friends in our preschool co-op. These will work perfectly.

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  2. I am doing a math night for the parents at my preschool and would love to give them a copy of these activities. Would you mind if I printed them to hand out? I will make sure there is a link to your website on the page.

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  3. I love these ideas. So simple but creative. The ladybugs are so cute! My son, the chocolate connoisseur, would love that one. Pinning this!

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  4. The ladybug game is my favorite. I've been surprised lately how my little guy recognizes the numbers and can count well, now. I don't know when it happened!

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  5. I love these ideas! We hop you will stop by our linky, The Preschool PreKinder Nook to share your post with our readers!

    You can find us here: http://itsybitsylearners.com/2013/02/preschool-prekinder-nook-3/ !

    Hope to see you there!!

    Allie from Itsy Bitsy Learners

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  6. Thanks for these simple ideas! My daughter is numbers-shy so this looks easy to try with her. Found you through Link and Learn.

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  7. Great ideas! Thanks for sharing at mom's library!

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  8. My daycare children are BIG ice cream lovers, so I think I'm going to try out the ice cream math. Thanks for the tasty idea. We might try the ladybug math with raisins. It's great, we're combining learning and snack time together!

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  9. This is such a great post, with some wonderful ideas!! Thank you for this, and thanks for sharing it at For the Kids Fridays at Sun Scholars! I am featuring YOU at the next party, and have pinned this post to my BEST OF board on Pinterest!

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  10. Great post Lorie! I'm featuring this on The Sunday Showcase tomorrow.

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  11. thank you so much so much so much!

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  12. Some lovely ideas here - we have a special focus this week on maths and number posts at the Empty Your Archive link party, and I would absolutely love for you to link this up, Alice @ Mums Make Lists x

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  13. I just LOVE all these ideas--so fun and easy to make and do! Perfect for my 4 year old right now! Pinning and plussing! (is that a word? LOL)

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    Replies
    1. I knew what you meant so it must be a word! Thanks so much!

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  14. BTW, where did you get those lovely giant dice? I'm looking all over the internet, but can't find any quite like that....

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  16. Then we count all the fingers and point to the correct number written on the sheet of paper. 3d virtual animation

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